The ashes of Star Trek actor James Doohan have been successfully launched into space from a site in New Mexico, watched by cheering fans. Part of the remains of the actor, who played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, were sent about 70 miles above the earth on a private SpaceLoft XL rocket. His widow Wende was there to witness her husband going on his final voyage. Doohan's ashes were accompanied by the remains of former US astronaut Gordon Cooper and those of 200 other people. The flight had been repeatedly delayed but organisers Space Services Inc and all those gathered at the private launchpad near the town of Hatch finally watched the historic flight take off into clear blue skies. When it had reached about 70 miles above the earth the nose cone of the rocket, containing the ashes, detached from the main body to land about 30 miles away. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Doctors removed a 2-pound tumor from the back of a newborn's neck and the baby girl appeared to be doing fine Friday, her parents said."The first thing we want to do is hold her head," the baby's father, Joshua Whittington, a 31-year-old pharmacist from Denver, told the Rocky Mountain News.Addison's story unfolded quickly when her mother, Kari Whittington, visited her doctor's office Monday and an ultrasound detected the fast-growing, grapefruit-sized tumor. No abnormalities were detected in the previous ultrasound a month earlier.Pediatric surgeon Steven Rothenberg said the growth, called a cervical teratoma is rare and occurs in about 1 in 50,000 births. The blood-swollen tissue and veins made up 40 percent of Addison's weight....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269055,00.html

Turkey's Islamist-rooted government condemned on Saturday an army threat to intervene in the nation's presidential contest while the EU and the United States urged a peaceful resolution of the crisis. The army, which has ousted four governments in the past 50 years, issued a toughly worded statement on Friday expressing concern over the election and said it was ready to act in defense of the secular system separating state and religion. Government spokesman Cemil Cicek's attack on the army marked an escalation in an election row pitting Turkey's secular elite, including the powerful army generals, against a government they accuse of trying to increase the role of Islam in politics. "Turkey's problems will be solved in the framework of the law, there is no other way ... The chief of the General Staff is answerable to the prime minister," Cicek told a news conference....http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070428/ts_nm/turkey_president_dc

Ballot papers were stolen and voters intimidated when Nigeria re-staged polls for hundreds of state and federal legislators' seats on Saturday after elections widely condemned as fraudulent.The April 14 and 21 polls delivered a landslide victory for the People's Democratic Party (PDP), which has ruled Africa's most populous nation and biggest oil exporter for eight years. But international observers said the elections were not credible and the opposition has rejected the results. The electoral body had rescheduled elections for some seats in 26 of the 36 states, in places where the earlier polls were cancelled due to massive irregularities. In one state, southeastern Imo, the election for governor was rescheduled. ...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3094453

An air force helicopter crashed onto a busy street in a central Philippine city Saturday, killing at least seven people on the ground and one airman aboard the aircraft.The Vietnam War-era UH-1H Huey helicopter pinned a motorcycle taxi, and its spinning rotors hit another on the street in the Pajo district of Lapu-Lapu city on the central island of Mactan, DZBB radio reported.A radio reporter at the scene said the helicopter's rotors "chopped up" the taxi and dismembered its passengers.An initial police report had said that seven people were killed, and that all four crew members on the aircraft were injured and brought to a hospital. Air force spokesman Lt. Col. Epifanio Panzo said one airman later died....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269057,00.html

A Nigerian lesbian who "married" four women last weekend in Kano State has gone into hiding from the Islamic police, with her partners. Under Sharia law, adopted in the state seven years ago, homosexuality and same-sex marriages are outlawed and considered very serious offences. The theatre where the elaborate wedding celebration was held on Sunday has been demolished by Kano city's authorities. Lesbianism is also illegal under Nigeria's national penal code. Nigeria's parliament is considering tightening its laws on homosexuality. Kano's Hisbah board, which uses volunteers to enforce Islamic law, told the BBC that the women's marriage was "unacceptable". The BBC's Bala Ibrahim in Kano says Aunty Maiduguri and her four "wives" are thought to have gone into hiding the day after they married....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6599437.stm